


Baby, It’s Cold Outside

by foldedwish



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Christmas, F/F, Fluff, Sledding, Snow, Snowball Fight, Wholesomeness, are they...you know...?, posted on heathers amino, still bad at formatting, veronica step up your game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:07:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23035231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foldedwish/pseuds/foldedwish
Summary: Heather McNamara is alone on Christmas, again. She’s ready to give up on the festivities when a certain brunette refuses to let her spend the holidays alone.
Relationships: Heather McNamara/Veronica Sawyer
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56





	Baby, It’s Cold Outside

**Author's Note:**

> we always need some wholesome christmas fanfics no matter the month. i don’t make the rules.
> 
> originally finished: December 25th, 2018

Heather McNamara was awoken from her nap by the loud ringing of her phone. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and picked it up. It was a call from her dad.

“Hello?” Heather answered.

“Oh hey sunshine! I hope you’re doing alright at home. The weather over there must be crazy!” her dad said.

Heather looked out the window. Frankly, it was only snowing a little and there hadn’t been a blizzard in 2 years. “Oh, uh, yeah the weather here is just craaazy, you know?” Her laugh came out forced. One more conversation with her dad pretending everything is fine and she’d throw her phone out the window.

Heather heard rustling over the phone and suddenly a very feminine voice was speaking to her. “Heather! It’s so nice to hear your voice again!” her mom shouted. Heather winced and pulled her phone away from her ear.

More shuffling. “Uh, yes, thanks for that,” her dad said. “We’re sorry that we couldn’t be home for the holidays.” Mac let her focus to become hazy and suddenly her parents’ voices seemed distant. “We’re sure you’ll understand...Heather? Heather, are you still there?”

Heather snapped back to attention. “Oh, uh yeah! Yeah I understand. Business and stuff right?”

“Yep, you got it,” her dad said. Silence ensued. Heather desperately wanted to leave this conversation. “Well, stay warm and—“

“And enjoy the holidays!” her mom yelled. Heather flinched and rolled her eyes at her mom’s enthusiasm.

Her dad said something to her mom and his voice came through again. “We’ll see you in a week. You know the drill: there’s food in the fridge and in case you run out you—“

“Yeah yeah, I go out and buy some more. It’s pretty simple to remember,” Heather said, finishing his sentence.

Her parents said their goodbyes and hung up. Heather stared at her phone and sighed. This was the 3rd year in a row where they were out on a business trip during the holidays. They didn’t even bother putting the Christmas tree up but truthfully, that tree had been stuffed in the basement collecting dust for who knows how long.

“Truly remarkable,” she mumbled. She set her phone down and proceeded to finish her nap. Before she could fully fall asleep though, her phone rang again. Heather let out a groan and pulled the sheets up further, trying to ignore it. Her parents were probably calling again to remind her to stay safe or something.

The voicemail told a different story though. “Hey Mac—“ Heather’s eyes shot open. That voice sounded familiar. “I just wanted to check in to see how you’re doing...so, um, yeah. Just call me when you can, okay? Bye!” Heather opened her phone to confirm that the voicemail was indeed from Veronica.

Heather called her back, and Veronica picked up before the first ring could even finish. Someone’s eager...

“Hey Mac!”

Heather cleared her throat to make it sound like she totally didn’t just wake up from a nap. “Hey Ronnie! And uh, why’d you call?”

“You know, just checking in on you. See how you’re doing, I guess.”

“That’s cute of you.”

“I know who else is cute...” Veronica muttered so quietly that Heather almost couldn’t hear.

“What?”

“What?”

“You said something.”

“No I didn’t!”

“Well anyways...” Heather prompted.

“Anyways, I hope your holidays are going fine,” Veronica said.

Heather sighed. “Actually, they’re not going fine.”

Veronica’s voice immediately softened. “What’s wrong, sweety?”

“Well...my parents aren’t home again,” Heather said quietly. She was almost embarrassed to say it.

“Where are they?”

“Out on a business trip to Miami or something. You know, I’m starting to really hate the holidays.”

Heather heard a loud bang on Veronica’s end before silence overtook the call. “Uh, Ronnie?”

“HEATHER. MCNAMARA.”

Heather nearly jumped out of her skin.

“You did NOT just say that you hate the holidays.”

“But the thing is...I did.”

She heard Veronica make an exaggerated gasp. “It is IMPOSSIBLE to hate the holidays!” Veronica yelled, putting lots of emphasis on “impossible”.

Heather didn’t know why Veronica was making such a big deal out of this. Maybe it was because she actually had a family to spend it with.

“Okay fine. I don’t hate the holidays, it’s just that they really suck,” Heather said.

It was quiet for a second, and Heather stared at the wall. “Well, we oughta do something about that,” Veronica said in a low voice and then there was sudden movement on her end.

“Ronnie? What are you doing?”

Heather heard a jingle of car keys. “I’m going to come pick you up,” Veronica answered.

“What? Why?”

“Because I refuse to let you spend the holidays alone.”

“No, no it’s fine! Really, it’s okay.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer. Holidays are not meant to be spent alone.”

“You really don’t have to do this.”

“I know,” Veronica said. “That’s what makes me so nice.”

Heather pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, you did NOT just quote Wicked.”

“But the thing is...I did.” Heather could almost hear Veronica’s cheeky grin. “Alright, I’m coming now.”

“No, wait! Ronnie stop—“ And the phone hung up. Heather listened to the end call beeping before groaning and pulling herself together. Might as well get ready now that Veronica was on her way.

Heather was almost blinded by the amount of Christmas lights decorating Veronica’s house. It made her wonder just how much their electric bill costed during this time of the year. At least the animals were cute.

Veronica opened the door for Heather and did this over-the-top bow which made her laugh.

“And here I thought chivalry was dead,” Heather joked. Veronica tipped her imaginary fedora in return. A gust of winter wind slapped Heather in the face who shivered in return.

“Why don’t we go inside?” Veronica asked, though it was less of a question and more of a statement.

“Yeah, that would be a good idea,” Heather said as she quickly zipped up her jacket.

Heather pushed open the front door, let Veronica in first (perhaps chivalry wasn’t dead), and slammed it behind her as fast as she could. She let out a breath of relief and took off her winter gear. Heather noticed that Veronica’s house was way more inviting than her own. Veronica’s family actually used their fireplace, which allowed for some warm light, and they actually had a Christmas tree, though it wasn’t decorated yet.

“Yeah, I was holding off decorating the tree because I wanted us to do it together,” Veronica said sheepishly.

Heather hung her coat up. “You’re too nice to me.”

“Anything for you m’lady.”

Heather rolled her eyes and smiled. “So I’m assuming you want to decorate the Christmas tree first.”

Veronica nodded and asked her mom where the ornaments were. Veronica quickly excused herself to go to the basement and retrieve them. Heather got to choose the first one.

“Ooh, this one’s cute!” She said as she dangled it from her fingers. It was a small wooden snowflake with Veronica’s initials on the back plus the date. Veronica must’ve made this when she was still in kindergarten.

Veronica’s eyes widened, and she tried to swipe the ornament from Heather. “No! Don’t look at that one!” She shouted in a panic.

“What’s wrong with this one?” Heather asked, hanging it up on the tree.

Veronica covered her face with her hands. “They’re really embarrassing. I made them when I was like 4 or 5.” She shrugged. “I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“Come on, how bad could they be?” Heather dug farther into the ornament bin despite Veronica’s protests, and she picked out another embarrassing kindergarten ornament.

“You were so adorable as a child!” Heather giggled. Veronica looked horrified.

“Oh my god, my hair looked hideous! What on—oh honey, what were you thinking?” Veronica complained, dragging her hands down her face.

“Oh stop it, you were cute back then.”

“Whatever you say, Mac.”

Once all the ornaments (the humiliating ones included) were put on, Heather and Veronica went to work trying to light up the tree. Veronica told Heather to find the outlet for the cord, but the search was futile as Heather ended up tripping over the ornament box and nearly knocking over the Christmas tree.

“Next time, remind me not to leave you alone with all the Christmas decorations,” Veronica laughed, offering a hand to a blushing Heather.

“Duly noted.”

Heather desperately wanted to go out and play in the snow after they set up the Christmas tree, and Veronica, not wanting anymore puppy eyes thrown her way, agreed. The snow had piled up enough for them to go to the park and have fun.

While Heather was busy in the living room putting on her scarf, Veronica snuck around the corner and quickly put up a mistletoe in front of the door.

“Oh hey, look it’s mistletoe!” Veronica pointed out as nonchalantly as she could. Heather turned to see and then walked to the door with all her snow gear on, ready to go outside. “You know,” Veronica lowered her voice. “They say you’re supposed to kiss under the mistletoe.”

Heather stared at her for a second, and Veronica held her breath, but then Heather started laughing and made some comment about Veronica being hilarious. The latter swiftly regained composure and laughed with her. Heather walked out to the sidewalk and beckoned for Veronica to come.

“Worth a shot,” Veronica whispered under her breath before following Heather to the park.

The park had the perfect hills for sledding. The sun reflected off the hills at the right angle, the trees framed the playground, and overall, it looked like a winter wonderland.

Heather gasped in amazement. “This park is beautiful!”

“Yeah, and it has the best hills for sledding,” Veronica said, and she did an awkward waddle for the hills with the sleds in hand. “Come on, hurry up!”

“Well excuse ME for taking in the beauty of winter and the fragility of nature as shown by the naked vulnerability of the trees without leaves!” Heather said back with a grin.

“You can word vomit all you want about how pretty nature is later. We’re sledding now. And by the way...” Veronica pointed a finger to herself. “...I’m going to win.”

“Is that a challenge I hear?” Heather was always up for competition. She set up her sled next to Veronica’s and focused her mind on completely wiping the floor with her.

Veronica smirked. “On your mark, get set, go!”

Heather felt her hair whip her in the face and the wind brutally drying out her eyes. She closed them in pain, which was a horrible decision, really. It wasn’t until she heard Veronica screaming at her that she realized that she had made a grave mistake. Heather opened her eyes for a split second to see herself moments away from crashing straight into a tree.

“Mac?”

Wow, trees hurt.

“Mac? Are you okay?”

Snow is cold.

“Heather Macaroni!”

NO. Not that nickname!

“What?!” Heather shrieked, though her voice was muffled by the fact that her face was buried in snow.

“What do you mean ‘what’? I just saw you collide head-first into a tree!” Veronica shouted in disbelief. Heather heard her footsteps coming towards her. Veronica rolled her onto her side so that her face was no longer being eaten by snow.

“Hiiii,” Heather giggled.

Veronica shook her head. “Great, now you’re dazed.”

“What? I’m just happy to see youuu.”

Veronica bit back a smile and tried to ignore the heat rising in her cheeks. “Alright, let’s go.”

Heather bolted upright. “We’re not leaving, are we?”

“No, silly. We’re going to have a snowball fight.”

“Yay, I love snowball fights!”

“Yeah, maybe a good hit to the head will set you straight.”

“Who said anything about me being straight?”

Veronica’s eyes widened. Heather suddenly realized what she said and clamped her hands over her mouth. The silence was deafening.

Heather brushed herself off and packed some snow into her gloves, trying to make it as round as possible. She lifted it up so Veronica could see, and she cleared her throat. “Um, snowball fight?”

Heather became the undisputed champion of snowball throwing, as each snowball hit Veronica with sharp precision. Eventually, Veronica couldn’t take it anymore and fell to the ground defeated.

“Okay! I give up now,” she said in her tired voice.

“It’s about time you did because I have a surprise for you,” Heather said, crawling towards her.

“Nooo, no surprises. I’m too tired. You better not—“ Veronica shrieked before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. “Stop tickling me!”

“Never!” Heather yelled.

“No! Seriously stop! I can’t—“ Veronica couldn’t stop laughing. “I give up. I give up!” When that didn’t work, she did the next best thing she could do: pull Heather’s face close. Very close. 

Heather immediately stopped tickling her. “Ronnie? What are you doing?” She asked tentatively. The air was so tense that both of them could barely breathe.

Veronica’s eyes flicked across her face. There was a strange passion that seem to be burning behind her eyes, but Heather couldn’t pinpoint it. As soon as she saw it though, the emotion quickly waned.

“What are you thinking of doing?” Heather asked.

Veronica gently pushed her away and stood up. “I’m thinking...that we should go back to my house. It’s getting cold, anyways.”

Veronica’s mom brought them hot chocolate when they got back. Heather initially refused, but Veronica, as usual, insisted. They sat on the couch drinking their hot chocolate and looking at the fireplace. The warm glow of the fire made the whole scene picture perfect.

Veronica shifted in her seat. “You know, you should spend the holidays more with us. I mean, if you want to that is because I would never force you to come with us even though technically I did force you today but that’s besides the point and what I’m trying to say is that it’s fun with you around and, yeah.”

Heather giggled at Veronica’s rambling. “Of course I’ll come over! I thought today was fun.” Heather was blind to Veronica’s immense blush.

They spent the rest of the night watching Christmas movies with Heather criticizing each one for being too cheesy. Veronica slyly wrapped an arm around Heather who didn’t seem to mind it as she was busy being salty with these “bland and cliche” movies.

The peace was disturbed by Heather’s phone ringing. Heather rolled her eyes upon seeing who was calling her.

“It’s my dad calling again to see if I’m still at home,” she said, and she answered the phone. “I have to go now.”

“No wait! You can spend the night with us,” Veronica said.

Heather smiled at the suggestion but sighed. “He won’t allow me to stay at other people’s houses because he’s too scared something bad will happen.”

“You could lie and say that you’re at home but really you’re having the best time of your life at my house,” Veronica responded with a stealthy wink.

“No, I can’t do that because he’ll ask me for a photo to prove that I’m at home.”

Veronica’s face fell. “Alright then. I could drive you home,” she offered and got up to grab her keys.

“No it’s okay! I can just walk home!”

“The least I can do is drive you home. I’m the one who picked you up in the first place, and I am not going to let you walk home in the cold, dark night.”

Heather punched her lightly in the arm. “Since when were you the mom friend?”

“Since now. Let’s go.”

Heather put on her winter clothes and left to open the garage. Veronica took one last look at the mistletoe in front of the door before shaking her head and getting into the car.

Heather thanked Veronica for the ride and was about to open the car door, but Veronica decided to take one last chance.

“By the way,” Veronica said. “You still haven’t kissed me under the mistletoe yet.” She quickly looked away in fear of Heather’s reaction. It was quiet for a minute and then Veronica heard Heather move. To leave the car and get away from her, perhaps.

Instead, Heather kissed Veronica on the cheek. “Maybe next time,” she whispered and opened the car door. Veronica, still stunned from the cheek kiss, didn’t register that she had already left. She waved goodbye to Heather and backed the car out of the driveway. She was beaming the whole way home and that grin never left her face, even when she fell asleep.


End file.
